Bill Whitaker

January 31, 1940 – September 27, 2020

William H. Whitaker, 80, of La Grande, died peacefully at home September 27, 2020. Known as “Bill,” he and his wife, Cheryl, retired to La Grande in 2007. Bill was a vital part of the community and will be missed by many persons who worked with him to make this world a better place for all. Bill was a professor emeritus of social welfare at Boise State University. He taught community organizing, social policy and planning for 40 years while serving on national social work education boards and state legislative task forces.

Bill was born January 31, 1940, in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, to Rose Donaldson Whitaker and Charles S. Whitaker. During high school he moved with his family to Columbus, Ohio. Bill graduated with an MA in Sociology from Ohio State University, a master’s in Social Work in Civil Rights Organizing from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in Welfare Rights Organizing/Social Welfare Planning from Brandeis University Florence Heller School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare.

Bill’s career began as Community Organizer/Associate Director for Southside Settlement, Columbus, Ohio. In 1978 he joined the social work faculty at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, followed by the University of Maine, Orono; Dean of the School of Social Work, Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Director of External MSW Programs at Boise State University, Idaho. Throughout his career Bill consistently had “one foot in the community and one foot in the classroom!” He was known for his commitment to bring graduate social work education into remote communities making it possible for social workers to advance while staying employed and living at home with their families. Throughout the years Bill received numerous awards and recognition for outstanding career achievement and sustained community service, leadership in the Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger, Health Care for All Oregon, and outstanding contributions in social work education.

In retirement Bill was enthusiastically engaged as a community activist in La Grande, Oregon — Oregon Rural Action, Union County Progressives, Union County Democrats, Rural Organizing Project, Health Care for All Oregon, and Western Organization of Resource Councils. He coordinated the Mad as Hell Doctors single payer health care organizing campaign Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C. — 15 states and 30 rallies in two weeks. In 2016 Bill was arrested with Cheryl at Democracy Spring, Washington, D.C., during nonviolent civil disobedience at the U.S. Capitol protesting corporate control of government. Bill’s La Grande Observer guest column, “The Common Good,” addressed issues such as nuclear war, voting rights, “COVID-19 Pandemic Shows U.S. Health Care Lacking,” and “Structural Racism Hiding in Plain Sight.”

Bill, an avid outdoorsman and traveler, enjoyed activities such as canoeing, camping, hiking and traveling with family. Bill and Cheryl enjoyed traveling extensively internationally and walked the 84-plus-mile Hadrian Wall long-distance footpath in Northern England.

January 31, 2020, Bill celebrated 80 years of a good life.

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“You say that nothing that I do avails

To tip the scales where justice

Hovers in the balance

I have not thought to claim I could

But I reserve beyond dispute

My right to choose

Which side shall feel

The stubborn ounces of my weight.”

(Anonymous)

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“Don’t Mourn — Organize!”

(Joe Hill)

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Surviving relatives include children, Heather Whitaker and Ewan Whitaker and spouse, Carolyn; grandchildren, Fiona and Max Whitaker; sisters, Jeanie Morrow and spouse, Dale, Meredith McPherson, and Gretchen Van Camp; and wife, Cheryl Simpson, and her children and spouses, Dan and Susie, Matt, and Jennifer and Waleed.

Memorial contributions can be made in Bill’s name to the Rural Organizing Project, TIN 93-1159856, P.O. Box 664, Cottage Grove 97424.